Rafael Nadal makes French Open history with 10th title

Nadal is the first player in the Open Era to win 10 titles at the same Grand Slam tournament.

Author:
Tegna

Published:
11:40 AM EDT June 11, 2017

Updated:
11:40 AM EDT June 11, 2017

Rafael Nadal made tennis history at the French Open on Sunday when he became the first player in the Open Era to win the same Grand Slam title 10 times in his career.

The 31-year-old Nadal offered no mercy to Stan Wawrinka, the 2015 French Open champion, in putting on a strategic and impenetrable clay court clinic to capture his 15th overall Grand Slam title 6-2, 6-3, 6-1.

Nadal, who dropped to the court and covered his eyes when Wawrinka netted the final shot, saved the one break point he faced in the third game of the first set. It was the only opportunity he presented the Swiss in the 2 hour, 5 minute match.

"The feeling that I have here is impossible to describe, impossible to compare to other places," Nadal said on court after the victory, brushing away tears. "The adrenaline and nerves I feel on this court I can't describe. This is the most important event in my career, without a doubt."

Nadal has never lost a final at the French Open. His 79-2 record in Paris is the best in French Open history. He lost in the fourth round in 2009 and the quarterfinals in 2015. Last year he withdrew from a third-round match with a wrist injury.

This was Nadal’s first Grand Slam title since he won his ninth French Open in 2014. The Spaniard just lost out on winning this year’s Australian Open trophy after surrendering a lead in the fifth set of the final to Roger Federer.

Six men in history have claimed seven trophies at the same Grand Slam, including Pete Sampras and Federer, in the Open Era, who won seven Wimbledon titles apiece.